The doctor in home isolation, in his place a substitute. Now the professional order is investigating: was he vaccinated?
Roberto Bo
May 27, 2021
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MANTUA. Fears and anxiety among the patients of a general practitioner with a clinic in the hinterland of Mantua who tested positive in recent hours for Covid-19.
The doctor in question (of which obviously we will not name for the privacy, ndr) is already in home isolation and the Ats Infectious Diseases unit immediately activated to carry out an in-depth investigation of the contacts made in the last hours.
The doctor’s positivity was found on Tuesday morning and from that moment the tracking procedure was started.
«The person in question, as well as all Lombard citizens – explains Dr. Luigi Vezzosi, doctor of the Ats Infectious Diseases operating unit – received a text message with the notification of positivity. At the same time he also received a link through which he can download the isolation measure and report if he has symptoms and if he has had close contacts ».
And what happens at that point? From the Ats they explain that beyond the text message a phone call is also triggered to the positive subject. An employee at the concact tracing has already called the person concerned for an interview on the state of health: a fundamental step because the procedure varies according to the symptoms. If you have symptoms, contact should be sought 48 hours before the onset of symptoms, if you have no symptoms 48 hours before the anti Covid test is performed. The doctor has already been asked if he has always used protective equipment, if he has taken distancing measures and if he has been in contact with patients for more than 15 minutes. «On the basis of the answers – continues Dr. Vezzosi – it is decided whether to quarantine some of his clients. By this I mean that if a patient has only gone to collect a prescription, there is no high risk situation “.
It therefore all depends on which answers, among other requests in writing, the doctor has provided: if he has visited patients on Monday and Tuesday he will have to provide the list of these people, who in turn will be contacted by the ATS. And in these cases it is not excluded that Ats decides to perform a test on everyone, whether they are considered high or low risk.
In any case, for the moment the clinic has been closed and the sanitation of the premises has been ordered. A replacement will also be appointed during these hours. But how long will the doctor’s isolation last? The usual ten days, at the end of which you can swab if you have not had symptoms for at least three days. After 21 days, however, he will be able to abandon isolation in the event that the infection is due to an English variant or no variant, but to resume work he must be negative for the molecular swab or antigen test. If, on the other hand, he should have the Indian, Brazilian or South African variant, he cannot automatically exit the isolation after the canonical 21 days but will first have to do a swab.
At this point there is only one last question, which among other things many of the doctor’s patients are asking themselves in these hours: is he vaccinated against Covid?
Healthcare professionals are required to vaccinate unless they can prove they have valid health reasons. In cases where a healthcare professional is positive, the Order to which he or she belongs will proceed with the appropriate checks. And in the case of the Mantuan doctor as soon as he tested positive, the Provincial Order has already made it known that it will make all the necessary investigations. If he is not vaccinated and there are no valid reasons for being exempted, the professional risks disciplinary proceedings.
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